Citi Bank Named Premier Corporate Sponsor of Park Avenue Armory for 2012-13 Season

Park Avenue Armory announced today that Citi Private Bank will act as premier corporate sponsor in support of the Armory's 2012 and 2013 seasons. Now in its second full season of cultural programming, comprising productions of visual art, dance, and music, the Armory is dedicated to presenting works that cannot be realized in traditional museums and performance halls.

With its soaring 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall and array of dramatic period rooms designed by such famed artisans as Louis Comfort Tiffany, Stanford White, and the Herter Brothers, the Armory's unique spaces catalyze artists to create-and the public to experience-unconventional work in all genres that could not be mounted elsewhere in New York City. The 2013 season will be announced in late 2012.

"Park Avenue Armory has revitalized one of the City's most distinguished buildings into one of the most exciting cultural organizations in New York, adding an important and exciting new dimension to the cultural life of the city," said Peter Charrington, CEO, Citi Private Bank, North America. "We are thrilled to partner with them and to support their bold, imaginative, and thought-provoking programming."

"We're so grateful to Citi Private Bank for investing in the magic that happens here at the Armory for both artists and audiences," said Rebecca Robertson, the Armory's President and Executive Producer. "Citi's gift will help us bring extraordinary artists to the Armory and support them in the creation and presentation of works that literally could not happen anywhere else in the City."

The 2012 season began in February with the Armory's second Tune-In Music Festival, celebrating Philip Glass's 75th birthday with appearances by Patti Smith, The Philip Glass Ensemble, Nico Muhly, Vijay Iyer, and Zack Glass, as well as a world-premiere commission based on Allen Ginsberg's Kaddish by Hal Willner and Bill Frisell, with visuals by Ralph Steadman.

Upcoming programs include:

Tom Sachs's SPACE PROGRAM: MARS, a dynamic commission that transforms the Armory's drill hall into a mission to Mars; Gruppen, a rare performance of Stockhausen's sonic masterpiece, in which audience members will sit among the musicians of the New York Philharmonic; Trisha Brown's Astral Converted restaged for the Armory's massive drill hall, with original music by John Cage and original décor by Robert Rauschenberg; Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller's The Murder of Crows, an epic aural soundscape that weaves together the fluttering of voices, music, and sound samples to create a dreamlike atmosphere; Ann Hamilton's immersive and site-specific installation, marking her first large-scale solo presentation in New York City in more than ten years; Under Construction, a series of intimate evenings with artists presenting works in progress in the Armory's historic period rooms.

Part palace, part industrial shed, Park Avenue Armory fills a critical void in the cultural ecology of New York by enabling artists to create, and the public to experience, unconventional work that could not otherwise be mounted in traditional performance halls and museums. With its 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall- reminiscent of 19th-century European train stations-and array of exuberant period rooms, the Armory invites artists to draw upon its grand scale and distinctive character to both inspire and inform their work.

The Armory is currently undergoing a $200-million revitalization of its historic building, named among the "100 Most Endangered Historic Sites in the World" by the World Monuments Fund in 2000. The renovation and restoration, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, will stabilize and preserve the building and create new resources and spaces for exhibitions, installations, and performances, as well as Artist-in-Residence studios, rehearsal rooms, and back-of-house amenities-offering dynamic environments for artists and audiences alike. Since its first production in September 2007-AaRon Young's Greeting Card, a 9,216-square-foot "action" painting created by the burned-out tire marks of ten choreographed motorcycles presented with Art Production Fund-the Armory has organized a series of immersive performances, installations, and works of art that have drawn critical and popular attention.

2011 marked the Armory's first full season of artistic programming, which culminated in December with site-specific performances by STREB and Shen Wei Dance Arts, and the final performances of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Park Avenue Armory's 2012 and 2013 seasons are sponsored by Citi.

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